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Movies / On DVD / Milk
Milk

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Milk (2008)

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Reviews Counted:215

Fresh:201

Rotten:14

Average Rating:8/10

Consensus: Anchored by Sean Penn's powerhouse performance, Milk is a triumphant account of America's first openly gay man elected to public office.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual content and brief violence.

Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 26, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $31,716,847

Synopsis: In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay... In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk under the direction of Gus Van Sant in Milk, filmed on location in San Francisco from an original screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, and produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen. Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change. With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words. When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin). But as White and Milk’s political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge. Milk’s platform was and is one of hope – a hero’s legacy that resonates in the here and now. --© Focus Features [More]

Starring: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna

Starring: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco

Director: Gus Van Sant

Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenwriter: Dustin Lance Black
Producer: Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Focus Features

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Release:

Mar 10, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • Snap Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes

Featurette:

  • 1. Remembering Harvey
  • 2. Hollywood Comes to San Francisco
  • 3. Marching for Equality
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Milk

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101 - 120 (sorted by date)
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A fairly standard biopic -- if a very fine one, indeed -- but never the transcendent work one would have hoped from the filmmaker or his subject.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
12/04/08
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

Both triumphant and vastly disturbing, Van Sant's Milk is a penetrating portrait of an unconventional political figurehead immersed in the chaotic struggles of his defining times

Full Review Source: Movie Eye | comment Comment
12/04/08
Frank Ochieng
Frank Ochieng
Movie Eye

A bizarre manipulation of the gay political impulse.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment 26 Comments
12/03/08
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

You haven't seen a film this well written, directed, or acted in a very long time. Milk is a masterpiece.

Full Review Source: Movie Retriever | comment Comment
12/03/08
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
Movie Retriever

And the winner is ... Sean Penn for Milk

Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | comment Comment
12/02/08
Christian Toto
Christian Toto
What Would Toto Watch?

Visibility is key to Harvey Milk's political and social efforts.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
12/02/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Penn's performance is a marvelous act of empathy in a movie that, for all its surprisingly conventional style, measures up to its stirring subject.

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
12/01/08
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Harvey Milk is remembered as a local hero in San Francisco, and Sean Penn's joyful, deeply layered portrayal in an uncommonly graceful -- albeit conventional -- new biopic by Gus Van Sant gives us a pretty good idea why.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment 1 Comment
12/01/08
Robert Davis
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine

[T]here's a luminous vivacity to Sean Penn's Harvey, a kind of glow that I've never seen in the actor before and never would have imagined he could bring to the screen...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
12/01/08
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Its insight forms eerie parallels with the ongoing movement for which San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk gave his life.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
11/30/08
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Gus Van Sant's return to mainstream filmmaking [is] one of the more fascinating political biopics in recent memory.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
11/30/08
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Milk's peerless performances and direction take on new significance in a year of political transition and expectation. Gus Van Sant's adoring biography couldn't have been delivered at a better time.

Full Review Source: TheDivaReview.com | comment Comment
11/29/08
Diva Velez
Diva Velez
TheDivaReview.com

A wonderful, full bodied movie that earns its tears honestly driven by an Oscar worthy performance by Penn.

Full Review Source: Windy City Times | comment Comment
11/29/08
Richard Knight
Richard Knight
Windy City Times

A fabulous, important and timely movie with a core performance by Sean Penn that, at the very least, will lead to an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment 5 Comments
11/29/08
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

It's truly a film everyone can take something positive from, and a film that, for me at least, is one of the top films of the year

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
11/28/08
Chris Bumbray
Chris Bumbray
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Even if you have no interest in the subject matter, this is a wonderfully inspiring and important motion picture that should be seen by everyone.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
11/28/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

Sean Penn plays Milk as if he were born to the part... it's a true physical and spiritual embodiment.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
11/28/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A film that doesn’t quite escape the clichés of the biopic genre but still finds its own beats, thanks in large part to the piercing performances.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/28/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Hollywood.com

Milk is an agitprop fantasy about the selflessness of sainthood. If anybody but Penn was playing the saint, we'd probably feel as if we were being sold a bill of goods. Instead, he just about pulls it off. Such is the treachery of talent.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
11/28/08
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

In Van Sant's hands, it's both a story for the ages, and a story for our age.

Full Review Source: Modern Fabulousity | comment Comment
11/27/08
Gabriel Shanks
Gabriel Shanks
Modern Fabulousity
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Milk

March 09, 2009: RT on DVD: Rachel Getting Married, Milk Lead Super Fresh New Releases
Home video enthusiasts, prepare yourself for what may be the best week ever! This week you'll have to choose between Academy Award flicks Rachel Getting Married (Best Actress... More...

February 24, 2009: Backstage at the Oscars: My First Time
In the movie world there is no event greater, no red carpet glitzier, no awards show more meaningful, than that of the Academy Awards. While millions watch the biggest night... More...

February 01, 2009: Slumdog's Danny Boyle Wins DGA Award
Danny Boyle takes home another win for Best Director from the Director's Guild of America -- could Oscar gold be just around the corner? See who else was nominated this year in... More...

January 27, 2009: Milk Among GLAAD Nominees Opens in new window
"Milk" has been a favorite on the awards circuit this year, and its hot streak has been extended courtesy of the GLAAD Media Awards, where it will compete in the Outstanding... More...

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